docs: def mks(val):
      """
      make sure the value is a string, paying mind to python3 vs 2
      """
      if sys.version_info > (3, 0, 0):
          if isinstance(val, bytes):
              sval = str(val, 'utf-8')
          else:
              sval = str(val)
      else:
          sval = str(val)
  
      return sval